Quote Originally Posted by IamInuit View Post
Quote Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita View Post
Cringe worthy? U really asking for Hop's cringe worthy moments as if you dont know?

I could go on and on but just to give a few examples. If I remember correct in the Roy rematch, Roy barely grazed him in the head and this con man Hopkins started rolling all over the canvas like he got shot. Not only did that made me cringe was but for the first time, it made me hate a fighter.

Dawson-Hopkins 1.. enough said.

Hopkins is not a throwback fighter like he claims to be.
Like I said people seem to be basing this claim on one or two fights at the end of his career which you are now sustaining. And the flopping around from a shoulder lift from Dawson has very little with him being dirty. In order for him to make a top dirty list the evidence should be all over the place in close to a 30 year career. He does not make the cut. And if he's not a throwback I don't know who is.
You know that I also respect Hopkins and I think that, more than any other fighter of this era, he has worked hard in the gym to overcome other fighters with physical superiority AND I think that he is a smart tactician in the ring who is prepared to adapt to almost any style. That said, I think that a part of his willingness to 'adapt' is his willingness to bend or outright break the rules. He holds and hits where he can get away with it, he has wrestled fighters (was in Robert Allen he tossed around? I can't remember) and he got into something of a foul-fest with Echols, didn't he? Going off of memory there, so don't know that I have that quite right.

Anyway, he used his head against Winky, Taylor, and I'm sure against countless other fighters (my opinion - I don't have evidence handy - again, I am going off of memory) - but then he has also turned in masterful performances against Tito, Oscar, Pavlik, and Tarver with minimal fouling if any.

I think that his mentality can turn to the dark side at any time and part of the reason that he is considered a dirty fighter is by his own personna. He is a win at all costs guy - he believes he is justified any time that he uses dirty tactics because he feels that the referees don't always take care of stuff. Still, he ups the ante (my opinion again) when that happens and I think that he is fairly dirty a fair amount of the time and, in part DUE to his longevity, he has had his share of fighting dirty.